The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it. --Mark Twain

September 24, 2004

The Heifer of God, Part II

It's too late to spend much time on this, but let's consider atonement theology from the human side. Part of the problem with atonement talk is it's always done from the God side: what was God's purpose, what was God doing, how did God effect salvation, etc. The operative question, I think, ought to be, why did the Sanhedrin and the Roman government collude to kill Jesus? It wasn't like Pilate says: "Self, God has ordained me from the foundation of the world to kill this Jewish rabbi so that the sins of the world can be forgiven." There were religious and political reasons behind the decision to kill Jesus. I think they are at least as important as any post-Resurrection theologizing. So, that's where I'll end tonight? You're a Roman or a member of the Sanhedrin. Why kill this guy?